Patricia Sellers

Experienced Moderator

As the co-founder and chair of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit, Pattie Sellers uses her sharp intellect and comfortable conversation style to play host, emcee and moderator to the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business, philanthropy, government, academia and the arts. With warmth, humor and extensive knowledge on the latest trends in business, Sellers deftly engages panels—and her audience—in a vibrant discussion that will create a memorable and informative program.

Beyond the Corporate Ladder: New Career Paradigms for Changing Times

The most successful people think of their careers as jungle gyms, where the rewards come from moving in all directions and not just up. Sounds scary, but particularly in this fast-changing and unpredictable world, you should not think of your career as just climbing a ladder. More than ever, you need peripheral vision and the ability to think broadly. An expert on the traits needed to navigate a successful career, Pattie Sellers shows how flexibility—in both managing and being managed—is an increasingly critical trait in today’s workplaces. Success favors the highly adaptable who are ready to swing to opportunities over here and over there.

A View from the Boardroom: How Great Leaders Lead

Entrepreneurs drive economic recovery—and women are key. While Sellers has spent most of her 26 years at Fortune writing about leaders of large companies, her purview is much broader. She has written definitive (and exclusive) cover stories on world-changing entrepreneurs and leaders from across the business spectrum. Sellers talks about the common traits of outstanding business-builders and also explores stories of prominent people who have discovered fresh passion to start new lives after their careers in business.

On Women and Leadership

Women leaders tend to think about power horizontally—and manage that way too. Having spent the past 15 years studying women leaders—and building Most Powerful Women into Fortune’s second-biggest brand, after the Fortune 500—Pattie Sellers has gained unparalleled access to America’s top women leaders and has keen insights into what makes women successful (and not) in business, philanthropy, government and beyond. Her views are provocative and can be controversial: The concept of the glass ceiling is overplayed, she believes, and women hold themselves back by feeling uncomfortable with power. Wise women leaders embrace power—in different ways than most men do.